Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 220

I Was Born as the Daughter of a Lowly Concubine 220

“What are you talking about, throwing me into the blanket by force…….”

“You were nodding off, so I was just helping you rest comfortably.”

Seeing us bickering, the Imperial Guard Seong smiled, looking somehow pleased.

“Please, stay well until I return.”

“Of course. Be careful on your trip too, Imperial Guard Seong. While you’re at it, it would be nice if you could find the whereabouts of the former Jwasesma [a high-ranking military official] that you couldn’t find last time.”

“Yes, Princess.”

Imperial Guard Seong smiled and left my residence.

Dragging Cheonho, who was about to leave work, with him.

‘I don’t think Cheonho will be able to leave work today…….’

It seemed Seong had one last thing to ask before leaving.

He wasn’t leaving right away, but it seemed he wouldn’t have time to come and say goodbye to me.

He said it would be better to leave as soon as possible when the weather was good, so he would leave as soon as the preparations were finished.

Well, it would be a nightmare to wander around Gangwon-do [a mountainous province in Korea] in the winter, so that seemed better.

“I told him to stop by the Bunwon [a government-run pottery production center] when he arrives in Gangwon-do, so I guess I’ll hear from him at least once in the middle?”

“Stop talking about that and get some rest quickly. Aren’t you hungry? You didn’t eat much because you went out today.”

“……Five meals a day is a lot.”

“You need to eat more.”

“I’m going to become a pig…….”

“It’s all going to your height, so don’t worry about that. Shall I bring you a late-night snack?”

“No, it’s okay. Today, I have letters I haven’t seen because I went out, and I have things to think about.”

I also need to figure out how to solve the fundamental problem with that gambling den.

‘Should I really publish an article about it in the newspaper?’

It never rains but it pours; I was happy that the newspaper was selling well these days, but now problems are popping up elsewhere.

While I was thinking about that and blankly reading the pile of letters, Soi quietly handed me something.

“Please, eat this.”

“…….”

It was Yeollan-go [a type of Korean pudding], pudding.

It sounded like the door just opened.

“Songbi Unnie [older sister] made it in advance to give to you when you came back, Princess.”

You’re not going to refuse this, are you?

The following words seemed to automatically echo in my ears.

“No, why are you trying to feed me so much.”

“You have to eat. You’re just working late every day like this.”

“It’s not work? I’m just reading the letters that came.”

Even as I said that, I received the Yeollan-go and spoon that Songbi had brought.

Thanks to the recent establishment of several local branches of Siyoungwon [a government organization for training female entertainers], information from other regions was slowly coming in along with the operational status.

‘Thanks to that, I read the letters a little later than usual.’

Since various information came in quickly, it was more interesting than I thought.

Of course, the information wasn’t anything great.

It was just stories about where a fire broke out, where an accident happened, where so-and-so got into a fight, and things like that.

We weren’t publishing information from the provinces in the newspaper yet, but we were planning to get approval from the King and Crown Prince regarding the screening criteria and publish some of it on the pages soon.

‘It seems a little early to publish what each province is putting out.’

We need professional manpower.

Of course, there were talented people dispatched to each branch, but so far, everyone didn’t seem to have the capacity to pay attention to the newspaper.

‘I have to be careful because I could be caught picking a fight with this and that excuse.’

I haven’t even thought about editorials yet, and since I’m focusing on delivering information in a way that’s most similar to the Jobo [a government gazette] for now, I’m being careful not to include any personal feelings as much as possible.

Of course, the danger of this business is that you can put it in even while pretending not to.

‘Actually, there’s some dangerous information mixed in even now.’

Recently, stories have been coming up subtly about what a certain local magistrate did.

Since the letters are addressed to me, there’s no need to worry about anyone taking them out in the middle, so verified information comes directly to me like this.

In other words, the children at the branch first select the information they learn on-site, and I check the final version.

And as the information coming up like this increased, my work naturally increased.

If you ask why my work has increased even though I haven’t posted it in the newspaper yet…….

“Oh, I have to go and tell His Highness the Crown Prince about this again.”

“No, can’t you even do this properly? What are you good at? Shouldn’t you know how to do this without being told now?”

“Yes, yes. Do you understand? Magistrate.”

“Drag those guys here and make them kneel in front of me! Do you understand?”

“Yes!!”

At the magistrate’s thunderous voice, the officials and police officers desperately tried to hide their hardened faces and ran out of the government office.

The mood of Lee Seok-bak, the magistrate of Wonju, had not been comfortable lately.

And if the magistrate’s mood is uncomfortable, the aftermath naturally affects those working below. Thanks to this, the officials of the six departments of the Wonju government office were having a hard time.

Of course, the cause was obvious, so it was also obvious what the magistrate was thinking.

‘Anyway, nothing works because of that Siyoungwon or Ssi-yangwon or whatever.’

Since that Siyoungwon or whatever was created, all the female entertainers in each local government office were taken away, so the man who checked the Gwan-gi [female entertainers attached to government offices] as soon as he took office couldn’t have been in a good mood.

In particular, it had been a while since the magistrate had seen the face of his favorite female entertainer, Aeng-aeng.

Of course, he didn’t know this would happen at first.

If he had known, he would have made some excuse and not sent them.

He sent them without much thought, thinking that they would teach more professional performances, and that the level of the countryside gibang [traditional Korean house of female entertainers] and the Seoul gibang were a bit different.

And after a while, he went to the performance hall in Siyoungwon and watched the performance. It was definitely different from before, to the point where it seemed like it wasn’t just empty words.

But the problem was elsewhere.

It was possible to watch the female entertainers performing from the seat, but it was impossible to call the female entertainers to the seat.

‘Of course, I thought they would come to the seat next to me if I called them.’

No wonder there were so many women among those watching the performance, and rarely, even young children came.

Who on earth would come all the way to a place like this just to watch dancing, singing, and acting?

The job of the female entertainers is originally to entertain the men.

It was said that Suyeong Ongju [a royal princess] created Siyoungwon, but she really didn’t know anything about the world.

What’s so good about only being able to see the faces of the female entertainers from afar?

He couldn’t call them, but he thought he could approach them himself, but suddenly women with their faces covered with veils appeared as managers and even blocked Lee Seok-bak.

Even though their faces were covered, he could tell that they were young women just by listening to their voices. And at the same time, that the women’s status was quite high.

It was the fierce women standing next to them who revealed the women’s status.

They dared to block the magistrate and glare at him, but he wondered if they could even get married being so fierce.

‘Damn it, but they’re relatives of the royal family.’

No matter how young the women were, he couldn’t act violently towards the royal family.

If he made a fuss about returning the female entertainers, he didn’t know what rumors they would spread about Lee Seok-bak when they returned to Hanyang [old name for Seoul] later.

They were definitely women who couldn’t keep their mouths shut.

They would definitely tell their father and older brother. Moreover, if the rumors were to reach the ears of someone higher up because they were relatives of the royal family…….

Lee Seok-bak felt a chill and his body trembled.

‘What’s wrong with a body that works hard for the country indulging in some women? Why are they blocking that?’

He heard that the women were happy and praised the fact that they were cracking down on the female entertainers, but their true intentions were obvious.

As expected, women didn’t know what was important and were narrow-minded.

They must have been jealous that the men were distracted by the beautiful female entertainers.

Female entertainers are just playmates anyway.

Raising children modestly and managing the household is what real women should do. Anyway, they don’t even know that and are just full of thoughtless jealousy.

“Huh. When you’re working hard to take care of the people, there are times when you want to soothe your heart~ They don’t even know that!”

The ignorant people hate paying taxes so much that the country can’t run properly with people like that.

That’s why he’s working so hard every day.

It was time to drag those who protested that the taxes were unfair and interrogate them.

‘That guy’s wife is young and pretty.’

If you drag the husband to prison, the wife will naturally follow.

The Siyoungwon people are protecting the female entertainers with their eyes wide open, so it’s not easy to touch them, but how can they do anything to the women in ordinary houses?

So it’s all because of Siyoungwon. If there were female entertainers, he might not have been interested in the rough women in ordinary houses.

I wonder how long Siyoungwon will continue to oppress loyal subjects like himself by putting the royal family forward. Oh, alas (痛哉)! [a classical expression of lament]

‘Anyway, the old days were better.’

Since the current Crown Prince started acting as regent, his official life has become more difficult because things have become stricter. I’m sure all the other local magistrates would agree.

He heard that the Crown Prince was pampering his younger sister, Ongju, so Siyoungwon was acting so arrogant, which was truly regrettable.

Anyway, he must be spineless because he’s been a bachelor until that age.

He must be like that because he’s not interested in women.

No one didn’t know that he didn’t even think about stopping Suyeong Ongju from doing what she was doing, and that he was even doing something strange like some kind of smallpox vaccination that made it impossible to touch the female servants, causing resentment.

Fortunately, Aeng-aeng was not feeling well at the time, so she did not get that smallpox vaccination.

‘Anyway, I doubt he’s even a man.’

He was worried about the Joseon Dynasty’s Jongmyo Sajik [the royal ancestral shrine and altars to the gods of land and grain, symbolizing the dynasty’s legitimacy] with this.

So loyal subjects like himself had no choice but to work hard.

Just as Lee Seok-bak was determined to spend another faithful day, an official rushed in and called the magistrate.

“M, Magistrate! It’s a disaster! A disaster!”

“What are you doing being so frivolous? What about the guys I told you to drag here? Why are you running in here alone?”

He was a guy who didn’t have much dignity, but he did what he was told well enough, so why was he making such a fuss?

“That’s…….”

“A secret royal inspector is here!”

“???”

“Corrupt official Lee Seok-bak, come out and receive your arrest warrant!”

“……Pardon?”

The government office, which had been peaceful only for certain people, was instantly turned upside down.

***

Recently, as various news from the provinces has been coming up, I have been meeting the Crown Prince more often than before.

After all, trivial stories and news that are not usually conveyed to the King or Crown Prince come in, so the King and Crown Prince are also interested in the fresh information.

If it’s an urgent matter, a report will come up first, but there are many things in the world that are not.

Above all, rumors that local officials are doing bad things are coming up to me so naturally that there was no reason not to pass them on.

It would take too long for this kind of news to officially reach the top.

This time, I brought the original text that came to me separately from the news I had organized and handed it over, and the Crown Prince sighed deeply.

“Again?”

“Unfortunately, it is again.”

It would be nice if the rumors about corrupt officials ended as mere rumors, but if the Siyoungwon people even confirmed it with their own eyes and sent a written article, I couldn’t just let it go.

Like when I was caught by the Crown Prince on the way back from Gangwon-do, there’s no way there can’t be cases of being caught for harsh taxes…….

The Crown Prince glanced over the letter I handed him and gulped down the tea that I had told the palace servants to prepare in advance.

I prepared a moderately cool drink because I brought news that was making him angry.

‘The esophagus is precious…….’

It would be a problem if he drank hot things and had problems with his esophageal health at a young age.

Of course, the male lead is originally a strong being, so unless he gets stabbed by a knife, he’s usually fine no matter what he does…… But he’s working so hard, so it’s good to pay attention to this much.

……Should I worry about blood pressure too?